Photo: Team Canada poses for a group picture at its training camp in Kamen, Germany. (Photo courtesy former Badger Hilary Stellingwerff - @stellingwerff on Twitter)

By Mohammed Ahmed

Hello again Badger fans!

I have been unable to find Internet access over the last couple of days to post, so I apologize for that.

It is hard to believe the week in Germany is almost coming to an end. I don't know where the week went!

Other than running, eating, hanging out with teammates and sleeping I have not accomplished too much. Training is going really well and I feel I have gotten into shape a little more with the workouts I have been able to do over the last few weeks, and especially the last few days.

I did some kilometer repeats on Wednesday and I averaged a little faster than race pace (2:43), which I was really happy with. On Saturday, I did four-mile tempo with Cam Levins and we ran them all under five minutes per mile, which was a lot faster than planned.

During this period of time you have to have a lot of confidence to do well, and I believe I am mentally at a place that I have not been since before Big Tens and Payton Jordan. (Note: Ahmed ran his Olympic qualifying time of 27:34.64 at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in April).

Now I need to mentally screw my head tight and not get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the race and atmosphere.

Although I am in Germany, one of the most beautiful places in the world, I have been unable to find time to sightsee. The only sights I have seen thus far are places I ran by or through, but I will try to get out for a little bit and walk around the area before I head back to London on Wednesday.

I have my last major workout before my race on Tuesday and I am looking forward to it as it signals how close the competition is -- as well as some downtime afterwards.

The last afternoon and night (July 23rd) at the Olympic Village was filled with great memories. At mid afternoon we went over to the Canadian fitting area to get fitted on our gear, and to say we are spoiled is an understatement. We got to try on 26 different pairs of items that did not include the gear Athletics Canada gives us. All in all, we have tons of gear and I won't be needing to use any of my normal clothes I brought with me!

I went for my run at Victory Park and I had couple of joggers attempt to drop me, but they got denied once I started running at six-minute per mile pace. I did some float-around 200s at the practice track afterwards and I got to meet legendary Somalian 1500-meter runner and 1987 world champion Abdi Bile sitting at the side of the track.

Afterwards, I went to Westfield Mall and met up with my good friend and former training partner, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Sophie, who were vacationing in the area. It was great seeing some familiar faces to make me feel like home in London.

I did not have a great sleep the last night there because I woke up to the practice fireworks for the opening ceremonies at midnight and could not fall back to sleep. How inconsiderate, London (LOL)! The little sleep made the trip to Germany hard because I was sleepy.

We got into Kamen, Germany, yesterday afternoon after an eight-hour travel day. After two hours of relaxing I went out for my run with Cam Levins, who will be racing with me in the 10K and also racing the 5K afterwards. I went for a 75-minute run and did a little pick-up in the middle of the run and it felt really good.

After the run, I came back to my room and passed out almost as soon as I got back. I slept nine hours, which was really good, but after a disastrous sleep the night before and the journey over to Germany I expected it. I forced myself to get up at around 8 local time, though I could have used couple more hours of sleep, and went for a 30 minute jog.

Waking up early in the morning and jogging gets me to acclimate quicker to the time change. Afterwards, I ate my breakfast, checked out the facilities and relaxed in my huge room.

The set up we have here in Kamen is phenomenal, we are at the "Kamen Sport Center" and we have everything we can ever need at our convenience. We have a world-class medical team (doctor, physio-therapists, massage therapists, etc.), other staff, coaches and training facilities (the track is a two-minute walk from the residence, and we have great trail system a seven-minute jog away).

With such a great setup I should be able to train hard and get fit to take on the best in the world.

I am off to do my first workout session since last Saturday, hopefully it flushes me out of the jet lag I am feeling

Mohammed Ahmed will compete for his native Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Before he runs in the men's 10,000 meters on Aug. 4, Ahmed will provide regular updates on his travels for UWBadgers.com.

By Mohammed Ahmed

Hello Badger Fans! Greetings from London.

I got to London safely after a decently long travel day on Saturday. I flew from Madison to Chicago and then straight to London. The flight did not feel too long because I was passed out after an hour in the air and didn't wake up until an hour before landing time.

The travel to the Olympic Village was surprisingly long, though. After landing at 11 a.m., I did not get into the village until two hours later. The bus took forever and we had to go through several checkpoints for security. The security is intense and, every time we leave the village, we have to get checked again and we have to have our accreditation pass on us at all times.

The village is really nice. It feels like I am at campus with so many athletes walking around. After arrival to the village I got set up at my room and I tried to get accustomed to the cell phone they gave us and meet my teammates. I tried sleeping a little, but I could not fall asleep, so I went for my run with the lads.

I went for a 50-minute run with Alex Genest (steeplechaser) and Nate Brannen (1500 meters) and then did some strides at the practice track (by the way, the track felt super fast and it is a similar surface to what we should be competing on). I slept really well last night and I don't feel too bad walking around today (Monday), so hopefully I should be accustomed to the time change soon enough.

I fly out Tuesday morning to Germany for a pre-Olympic training camp and will be coming back to London on Aug. 1. I won't participate on the Opening Ceremony, which is a little sad, but I should have a lot of fun hanging out with the best Canadian runners and some Germans.

There was Ahmed's run in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational that easily met the Olympic "A" qualifying standard and broke the school record by nearly 30 seconds.

"A lot of pressure was relieved from my shoulders," he said.

There was Ahmed's win in the 5000 at the Big Ten outdoor championships that was a meet record and one of two first-place medals UW captured in winning its first crown since 2007.

"The way we came together was true teamwork," he said.

And there was Ahmed's seventh-place finish in the 5K at the NCAA outdoor meet that validated his All-America status a second time despite limited training because of an Achilles injury.

"I wasn't happy with the way I finished, but running is a great metaphor for life," he said.

In other words, you take the good with the very good -- or the exceptional -- in Ahmed's case. Given his list of individual and team accomplishments, what would rank at the top of his list?

"Winning nationals as a team, that's number one," he said. "Cross country was a magical year. The title will be something I'll cherish for the rest of my life. It was a beautiful moment."

Beautiful, he said, because of the chemistry with Elliot Krause, Ryan Collins, Reed Connor and Maverick Darling. Beautiful because it rewarded coach Mick Byrne with a much-deserved title.

It was also beautiful, he said, because of what it told him about his running skills. "Finishing fifth told me that I belonged at the top of the NCAA," Ahmed said. "That helped me a lot."

Ahmed spent the indoor season "training very hard with the focus on going to the Olympics -- and with my first race (the Payton Jordan) I got that out of the way."

That's where the confidence gained from his success competing during the cross country season really kicked in -- in what was, at the time in late April, the fastest 10,000 meters race in the world.

"I thought to myself, 'If you can race with the guys in the NCAA, you can keep up with them, why not here?"' he said, convincing himself that "I can definitely do it."

That confidence carried over to the outdoor season and the Big Ten meet in front of the home fans. "Everyone was doing it for the seniors," said Ahmed, a junior from St. Catharines, Ontario.

Few, he noted, will ever forget senior Kyle Jefferson's true grit during his leg of the 4x400 relay.

"The amount of toughness that he displayed is going to be his legacy," Ahmed said, "and something we talk about every time we see each other or at team reunions.

"It didn't take one person to win the Big Ten title. It took everybody. It took throwers, distance guys, sprinters. Everybody came together. It was a great feeling."

Despite dealing with his Achilles injury, Ahmed is feeling much better in advance of Sunday's departure for Calgary and the Canadian Olympic Trials. He will race Wednesday in the 10,000 meters.

Ahmed is one of two runners who met the "A" qualifying standard. The other, Cameron Levins, who won the Payton Jordan event and claimed two NCAA titles, will compete in only the 5000, though he will double at the Olympics.

"Physically, I'm at a good spot; I'm not burned out yet, I still feel fresh," Ahmed said. "It's all mental now. And I'm going to treat this race just like it was any other race.

"I've learned that you've got to use the nervousness to your advantage. It's good energy if you use it to get ready. I'm not putting this race on a pedestal just because it's the Olympic trials."

Ahmed is looking forward to running for Canada in London.

In a sense, the truest sense, he said, he would be also running for the Badgers.

"Being a Wisconsin Badger," he said, "whether it's my identity on the track as a runner or that of a student, is something that is going to be a part of me forever and ever." ]]>http://www.uwbadgers.com/blog/2012/06/lucas-at-large-ahmeds-dream-season-continues-not-over-yet.html
http://www.uwbadgers.com/blog/2012/06/lucas-at-large-ahmeds-dream-season-continues-not-over-yet.htmlCross CountryLucas at LargeMen'sTrack and Field2012 OlympicsElliot KrauseKyle JeffersonLucas at LargeMaverick DarlingMick ByrneMohammed AhmedOlympic TrialsReed ConnorRyan CollinsTue, 26 Jun 2012 14:13:02 -0600Achievements of the Year: Ahmed runs Olympic qualifying time

Over the course of two weeks, UW Athletics will look back on the Badgers' biggest accomplishments during the 2011-12 season. The first week (June 18-22) highlights the top five individual achievements, with team accomplishments highlighted June 25-29.

Mohammed Ahmed's return to the track turned out to be an introduction to the world stage.

After redshirting the indoor season following an outstanding cross country campaign that saw him win the Big Ten title and earn All-America honors with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA championship, Ahmed had set his sights on taking a run at the automatic qualifying standard for the Olympic Games in the 10,000 meters.

He planned on giving himself one chance to hit that mark, at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on April 29 in Palo Alto, Calif. Turns out, all Ahmed needed was that one shot.

The St. Catharines, Ontario, native clocked in at 27 minutes, 34.64 seconds to not only achieve the Olympic "A" standard but also smash the 36-year-old Big Ten record in the event.

Ahmed's time stood as the No. 6 mark in the world for several weeks.

The performance also helped propel Ahmed to a Big Ten title in the 5000 meters two weeks later as he boosted the Badgers to the conference team title. He also scored All-America honors in the 5000 with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships.

Now, all that stands between Ahmed and a spot on his native Canada's team for the Olympics in London is a top-three finish at next week's 2012 Canadian Olympic Trials in Calgary.

Just two days after proving themselves the class of the Big Ten for the 13th-consecutive season, the Badgers now find themselves atop the list of the nation's top teams, as well.

For the first time since 2007, the Wisconsin men's cross country team is ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll.

UW received seven of the possible 12 first-place votes to vault Oklahoma State for the top position in the latest poll, which was released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Cowboys picked up the remaining five first-place votes and come in at No. 2.

BYU, Colorado and Oklahoma round out the top five.

"Of course it's an honor to be ranked No. 1 in the country, and I'm very happy for our athletes," said fourth-year UW head coach Mick Byrne. "But that does nothing to change the challenges ahead of us."

The move to No. 1 comes on the heels of the Badgers' dominant win Sunday at the 2011 Big Ten Championship, where UW used a team score of 17 points to claim its 13th-straight conference crown. Indiana, which finished runner-up to the Badgers at the Big Ten meet, follows No. 6 Stanford and checks in at No. 7 in the national poll.

Behind the Hoosiers, No. 8 Portland and a tie for No. 9 between Iona and Princeton round out the national top 10.

Byrne is pleased voters took notice of his team's performance at the conference meet, but he says the role of favorite for the upcoming NCAA championship hasn't changed.

"Oklahoma State is the two-time defending champion, returns everyone from last year and is the clear favorite for the NCAA meet," Byrne said. "They have looked fantastic this season and Girma Mecheso hasn't even competed yet. That's a guy that was seventh at the national meet last year.

"They are the team to beat."

Byrne was cautious to put much stock in rankings heading into the heart of championship season.

"Coach (Martin) Smith's teams often fly under the radar, but what Oklahoma did to compete with Oklahoma State at the Big 12 meet has them on my radar," Byrne said. "The same thing goes for Coach (Mark) Wetmore, because Colorado is always a team that shows up and performs on the day. You can count on it.

"Plus, we know that BYU and Stanford both have very talented teams and will be a factor when we get to Terre Haute."

For Wisconsin, the return to No. 1 marks UW's 22nd week as the nation's top-ranked team since 1998. Only Stanford, at 31, has been atop the USTFCCCA rankings more often than the Badgers.

Wisconsin, Stanford, Colorado and Arkansas are the only programs to be ranked in each of the 99 polls released since the start of the 1998 season.

UW men's cross country coach Mick Byrne was paying Ryan Collins a compliment when he put the Virginia transfer in context with one of his former distance runners, Landon Peacock.

A year ago, Peacock won his first individual Big Ten championship while sparking the Badgers to their 12th-consecutive league crown -- which they will be defending Sunday at the University of Illinois Arboretum in Champaign.

"He's not an artist like Landon,'' Byrne said of Collins. "He's not as far out there as Landon was.''

Byrne later clarified his use of the word "artist.''

"I wasn't referring to him being an artist in the sport,'' he said, "as much as I was referring to him in general terms. Landon was a little eccentric. He was a dreamer. He'd get into his own little world.

"He wouldn't mean to. He was trying to focus on the race and he'd be off drawing some landscape in his mind. Maybe that's why he was such a good athlete. It didn't faze him.''

Meanwhile, Byrne said Collins brings a "certain amount of calmness to the team'' in addition to bringing "this amazing passion for what he does'' which has led to a seamless transition as a teammate.

"Ryan is very much in tune with what's going on,'' Byrne said, "and in a very positive way he also has a great perspective on what we do. He kind of has that sense about him.

"Like, 'This is cross country, this is what we do' but we're playing a football game Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, and what they're doing is a huge deal.

"So let's go watch the game and let's not talk about cross country.''

Byrne endorses that attitude in his athletes.

"From a coach's perspective, they have a great team and school spirit,'' he said. "They're not going to spend Saturday night in a hotel room worrying about what they have to do on Sunday.

"They know what they have to do. They know what Indiana is going to throw at them. They're excited about it. At the same time, for two or three hours Saturday night they're going to be Badgers.''

So they'll be watching Wisconsin-Ohio State from their team hotel, he said.

You can tell Bryne likes this team a lot -- his No. 2-ranked cross country team. Mostly, he likes how his runners compete and take care of their business and "get after it'' every day.

"They do the work, and they're real serious about it,'' he said. "They're real motivated, real determined and real focused on not just this Sunday but what's coming down the pipeline.''

That would be the NCAA championship on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. Byrne said Collins has "kind of meshed'' with that vision and his new teammates and "they're all on the same page.''

"I believe we've got five guys who have a really good shot at winning the individual title,'' Byrne said. "They're all leaders. Every one of those guys knows what's at stake here and down the road.

"Over the last two meets the most important thing was that we came out of them not banged up. We came out of these meets able to continue with our training plan.

"It's a process as you head from that early part of the season into the championship part.''

Wisconsin has won each of its last three meetings: the Orange and Blue Preview (Champaign, Ill.), the Bill Dellinger Invitational (Springfield, Ore.) and its own Wisconsin adidas Invitational (Zimmer Championship Course).

While the Badgers were competing in Oregon on Oct. 1, there was mini-reunion with a handful of former UW distance greats like Chris Solinsky, Matt Tegenkamp, Simon Bairu and Evan Jager, who joined Byrne's current athletes to take in the football Badgers' win over Nebraska.

"They came down from Portland where they're training,'' Byrne said. "And it's always a positive when our young guys get to see those guys and be around them.''

Following its first week of competition in the 2011 season, the Wisconsin men's cross country team continues its rise in the national rankings.

UW moves up to No. 2 in this week's national coaches poll, which was released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Badgers -- who received one first-place vote -- jump Stanford in the newest rankings, moving up one spot from their previous No. 3 ranking.

Last week, the team had its first taste of competition, competing in the Badger Opener. Falling just short of Marquette, UW earned a second-place team finish with a score of 29.

Sophomore Drew Shields led the way, finishing with a time of 18 minutes, 20 seconds and earning the individual win. Freshman Alex Hatz gave the Badgers another top-five finisher, coming in at 18:28.5 for fourth place.

In addition to their new national ranking, Wisconsin remains rated No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, according to the USTFCCCA.

The Badgers prepare this week for their first road trip of the season with the Orange and Blue Preview taking place on Friday. The 6-kilometer race will be held in Champaign, Ill., and is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m.

Sunday will mark 10 years since the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Many will have flashbacks, including UW men's cross country coach Mick Byrne, who headed up his own program at Iona College in New York for 19 seasons before joining the Badgers in 2008.

Mick Byrne remembered stopping at a neighborhood deli for his morning coffee and hard roll when he heard the news: a plane had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Byrne immediately returned to his home in City Island, N.Y.; which sits on the western end of Long Island Sound, south of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and east of Eastchester Bay.

"From my front porch I can see the whole skyline of lower Manhattan, and I saw the smoke,'' Byrne said. "At that stage, I don't think it hit home exactly what was going on.''

So he didn't alter his plans. He drove his oldest son, Aidan, to school and headed for work at Iona College, which is about 40 minutes north of Manhattan in Westchester County.

"By the time I got there the second plane had hit the South Tower,'' Byrne said.

"Then we all knew what was going on.''

Byrne picked up his son and they returned home.

"It was very sobering,'' said Byrne, knowing that many of the workers in lower Manhattan lived in Westchester County. "There were a lot of people from that area in the towers.''

Byrne's wife, Mary Jo -- a physician's assistant in cardiology -- was called into help.

"My next memory was that night on City Island,'' he said, "and everybody getting together in restaurants and bars and kind of watching all the reports on television about what was going on.''

Two firefighters who lived on City Island lost their lives, Byrne added.

"As the days and weeks went on,'' he said, "you'd hear more and more from people who knew somebody that was killed. Everyone knew someone who knew someone ...''

Byrne recognized the name of a former runner who had been out for cross country at Iona for only six to eight weeks before leaving the team. He really didn't know him beyond that point.

But he was one of the 341 New York City firefighters who died.

"I remember my wife waking me up one night because she thought there was a fire in our house,'' Byrne recounted. "I jumped out of bed and ran into the kid's rooms.

"After checking all the rooms upstairs, I ran downstairs and even checked out the furnace. And there was nothing. I ran outside and couldn't see anything on the street.''

Finally it dawned on him.

"It was the smoke from the Twin Towers that had blown in our direction,'' he said. "My recollection was that it was a number of days afterward; it could have been a week or two weeks.

"I'll never forget that feeling.''

Two years ago, the Badgers competed at the Iona Meet of Champions in the Bronx and Byrne took the team to Ground Zero. He's a frequent visitor whenever he's back in New York City.

This year's Wisconsin adidas Invitational promises to be one for the record books. The University of Wisconsin men's and women's cross country teams play host to the third-annual Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Friday, Oct. 14.

The meet will feature competition from some of the country's top teams. Both men's and women's groups will see two of the top three ranked teams in the country.

Out of the 40 teams competing, the men's section features 19 teams from U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's national top 30 preseason rankings, including No. 2 Stanford and the host Badgers at No. 3.

The 41-team women's race features 18 of the nation's top 30 teams, including No. 2 New Mexico and No. 3 Providence.

The Badger men took second in last year's competition with a final score of 75 points, led by then-junior Elliot Krause's fourth-place finish. Indiana claimed the team win in the 8-kilometer race with 43 points.

The women pulled out a 15th-place team finish among the 20 teams that competed, including six ranked in the USTFCCCA national poll. Then-junior pacesetter Caitlin Comfort finished strong for the Badgers as the lead finisher among UW runners returning for the 2011 season.

Winners of nine-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional championships, the Wisconsin men's cross country team opens the 2011 season as the region's No. 1-ranked team.

The Badgers top the regional rankings, which were released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. UW also finished the 2010 season ranked atop the Great Lakes Region.

In all, UW has taken the crown at 15 of the last 20 runnings of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and seeks its 10th-straight title when the event moves to Toledo, Ohio, on Nov. 12. The following year, the Badgers are scheduled to host the 2012 NCAA Great Lakes Regional at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison.

Big Ten Conference teams hold down six of the top nine spots in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings, with five of the top six squads hailing from the Big Ten. UW leads the way, followed by No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Michigan State. Purdue checks in at No. 9.

The Badgers' nominees are considered to be the UW Male Athlete of the Year and UW Female Athlete of the Year award winners.

With UW teams experiencing success across the board during the 2010-11 season, it's as difficult a job as ever to narrow the field to just one deserving student-athlete on both the men's and women's sides of competition.

The winner of UW's awards will be announced Friday, but you can read profiles on each of the nominees who were not selected today. Then, make your own decision and vote in our polls on Facebook to determine the fans' choice for the Badgers' top athletes in 2010-11.

(Yes, it's pretty easy to figure out who will be announced as winners Friday...)

The 29th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, Gabe Carimi started 49 games throughout his Badger career. A 2010 consensus first-team All-American, Carimi became the second Badger to win the Outland Trophy, given annually to the nation's top interior lineman. He is just the eighth Badger to earn unanimous, consensus first-team All-America honors.

Last season Carimi was a key cog in an offense that led the Big Ten and averaged a school-record 41.5 points per game (fifth in the country), including 45.2 points per game in Big Ten play, second-best in conference history. UW also led the Big Ten and ranked 12th in the country in rushing offense, nearly becoming the first FBS team in history to have three running backs go over 1,000 yards in the same season.

At left tackle, Carimi lined up against some of the best defensive linemen in the country, including All-Americans Ryan Kerrigan of Purdue, Cameron Heyward of Ohio State and Adrian Clayborn of Iowa. He was just the third player in Badger history to earn Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year honors.

Earlier this month, Carimi was named Wisconsin's male Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient. He graduated in May with 3.13 grade-point average in civil and environmental engineering and was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Landon Peacock capped off his senior season for the Badgers in style with a come-from-behind performance that gave him the win in a dramatic men's race at the 2010 Big Ten Cross Country Championship.

The Morley, Mich., native claimed his first individual Big Ten title by a half-second, out-leaning Indiana's Andrew Bayer at the finish line for the win. Peacock clocked in at 23 minutes, 40.8 seconds, while Bayer was second in 23:41.3.

The victory made Peacock UW's 27th individual conference champion and led the way for the Badgers to secure their 12th-consecutive team crown in the first-ever Big Ten championship held at their own Zimmer Championship Course.

Sitting fifth heading into the course's finishing chute, Peacock charged past teammate Mohammed Ahmed and Minnesota's Ben Blankenship and trailed only Bayer with 30 meters to go. He finally hunted the Hoosier down at the line to become UW's first individual titlist since Matt Withrow in 2007.

He went on to earn first-team all-region honors with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional -- as UW won its eighth-straight team title -- and then scored All-America laurels for the second time in his career with a 20th-place showing at the 2010 NCAA Championship.

In track, Peacock was unable to defend his 2010 Big Ten title in the 5,000 meters as an injury sidelined him for the duration of the indoor season. However, he came back outdoors to finish fifth at the Big Ten meet in the 5,000 and then posted a personal-best time of 13:42.90 in the event at the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round.

Despite the outstanding time, which would have won the other preliminary-round heat in Eugene, Ore., as well as both sections of the event at the NCAA East Preliminary Round site, Peacock did not advance to the NCAA championships due to regional qualifying procedures.

Anchoring the blue line for the Badgers in the 2010-11 season, Justin Schultz completed his sophomore campaign as the nation's top-scoring defenseman with 18 goals and 47 points. His 18 goals were the most by a blueliner in the nation since 2002-03 and was just one shy of the UW single-season record for a defenseman.

Schultz had a remarkable sophomore season and did not go more than two games without a point. He scored the opening goal of a game five times and led the Badgers with 14 multi-point games.

The All-American was also named Defenseman of the Year by Inside College Hockey, WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-WCHA, was one of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and earned a spot on College Hockey News' national first team.

On Nov. 27 against Michigan State, Schultz became the sixth Badger defenseman in program history -- and the first since 1991-92 -- to record a hat trick. He was also the sixth Wisconsin defenseman to lead the team in points.

Schultz was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week after scoring the overtime game-winner in a 6-5 victory over Canisius on Jan. 8, snapping UW's 26-game overtime winless drought. He tallied three assists against Alabama Huntsville on Oct. 17 and had a total of three multi-goal games on the year.

In part to Schultz's efforts, Wisconsin ranked No. 8 nationally in goals-against average at 2.39. The Badgers also had the nation's top-scoring defensive corps, with a combined 120 points from the blue line.

Dorcas Akinniyi continues to haul in hardware every time she heads to a championship meet. The Carrollton, Texas, native added to her collection in 2011 with All-America honors both indoors and outdoors.

Akinniyi has qualified for the NCAA championships in all five seasons -- indoor and outdoor combined -- in which she's been eligible. After this season, she has also collected an All-America award four times.

She posted her best-ever NCAA finish with an outstanding fourth-place showing in the pentathlon at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships, racking up a school-record total of 4,254 points to earn her first All-America laurel of the year.

That performance came on the heels of her second-consecutive conference title in the pentathlon at the 2011 Big Ten Indoor Championships, where she scored 3,929 points.

Moving outdoors, Akinniyi earned a berth directly to the NCAA championships by virtue of her heptathlon score of 5,352 points at the Mt. SAC Relays Multi-Events in April. She also qualified for the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round in the open high jump for the second-straight season.

At the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Akinniyi piled up 5,554 points -- just 30 markers shy of her lifetime-best score -- to finish sixth in the heptathlon and secure the fourth All-America honor of her career. A career-best 3,469 points on the opening day of the two-day, seven-event competition propelled Akinniyi to another top-eight finish.

After taking a year off to compete with the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2010 Winter Games, Hilary Knight returned to Wisconsin for her junior season, leading the nation with 47 goals and helping the Badgers to their fourth NCAA championship.

Third in the nation in points with 81 on the season, the alternate captain now sits in third place on the UW all-time career-scoring list with 202 points.

Knight tallied a career-best 20-game point streak that spanned from Dec. 10 to Feb. 26, tying for the second-longest steak in UW history. In 41 games, she recorded 25 multi-point games, including three five-point efforts and four hat tricks. With her 47 goals, Knight scored more goals than four NCAA Division I teams did all year.

Knight was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week twice, once after tallying five points against RPI on Oct. 2 and lastly on Jan. 5 after having back-to-back four-point games against Northeastern and Mercyhurst at the Easton Holiday Showcase.

Scoring just 47 seconds into the Fill the Bowl contest at the Kohl Center, Knight tallied the first of three goals as the Badgers downed Minnesota, 3-1, in front of 10,668 fans on Jan. 29. Her game-winning goal against Bemidji State on Feb. 4 marked her 100th career tally.

She led UW with two points, including the game-tying goal and an assist on the game-winner, against Minnesota Duluth in an NCAA regional game on March 12. She went on to record three assists at the Frozen Four, including two in a 3-2 win over Boston College on March 18 in the national semifinal game.

On the national stage, Knight represented the United States as a member of the Women's Under-22 Select Team at the 2010 USA Hockey Women's National Festival and a three-game series against Canada.

Knight tallied three points for the U.S. Women's Select Team in the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup in St. John's, Canada, where Team USA placed second.

After winning the national title with Wisconsin, Knight scored the game-winner in overtime against Canada as the U.S. Women's National Team claimed gold in April's 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland.

Maggie Meyer capped off a brilliant career at Wisconsin by becoming the first national champion in program history when she won the 200-yard backstroke at the 2011 NCAA Championships in March. Meyer finished the NCAAs as a six-time All-American and was an 11-time All-American for her career.

With seven honorable mention All-America honors in career as well, Meyer tied for the second-most All-America accolades in school history with 18.

The 2011 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, Meyer won five of the six events she entered at the 2011 Big Ten Championships, bumping her career total to 10 conference titles. The White Bear Lake, Minn., native swept the 100 and 200 backstroke events, then recorded relay wins in the 400 free, 200 medley and 400 medley.

She set four school records as a senior, bringing her career total to six. Meyer also set a Big Ten record in the 200 medley relay.

In addition to setting the school record in the 200 back, Meyer also lowered the mark individually in the 100 back (51.66). In the relays, Meyer was a part of record-setting teams in the 200 medley relay (1:35.71) and 400 medley relay (3:31.73).

Meyer dominated the backstroke events in 2010-11, going undefeated in the 200 backstroke and winning 10 of 11 races in the 100 back. All told, Meyer won 38 out of possible 57 races she entered during the season either as an individual or as a member of a relay unit.

The 33-year-old Downin wasn't far back in 18th, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 2:20:41 to place seventh among Americans. During his time at UW, Downin was a four-time All-American and two-time Big Ten cross country champion.

Bairu won a pair of NCAA cross country titles for the Badgers, but did not find as much success in his marathon debut. The Canadian national record-holder at 10,000 meters dropped out of the race after 23 miles.

Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia won the race in 2:08.14.

Chris Solinsky, a training partner of fellow former Badger teammates Bairu and Nelson, is expected to eventually make the transition to marathons but was driven around the route of this year's NYC event by organizers in a truck.

Considered the "future" of the event by the race's director, Solinsky's experience was chronicled by George Vecsey of the New York Times.

Bairu and Nelson, meanwhile, had plenty of coverage of their preparation for the marathon. Follow the links below for the 'Rookies vs. the World' video series on the duo and training partner Shalane Flanagan, as well as Bairu's blog for the New York Times and both athletes' take on Twitter.